episode_0024

When I was a freshman, not long after entering school.

This happened the day after I went looking for a dungeon gate that appeared randomly in the northern wilderness, but ended up in vain.

I eventually returned to school after Hilde, who had conquered the dungeon, handed over an ether ore.

-This is the reward for fighting together. So don’t cling any more.

The morning breeze at dawn was cool. As I entered the old main gate of with my bicycle in the breeze, there were people welcoming me.

Three third-year seniors standing in front of the main gate in the early morning sunlight. The only students attending came rushing over with worried expressions.

“… !”

“Clara!”

“Oh my god! How many days have you been gone?”

“Look at the dust on your face!”

“Nina~ Please bring me a wet towel from the room~”

“Eeh… Is it me again?”

“Hurry!”

“… ”

After a few days of not seeing the seniors, their faces were so ordinary that it was difficult to even remember their faces. They tried to wash my face with a handkerchief when I came back under the morning sun with a dirty look on my face.

And the seniors refused to wear the female uniform of and looked at me wandering around wearing only training clothes and said,

“Klara is cute but quirky… I always walk around in training clothes.”

“… ”

That’s how a day at begins.

Three third-year seniors held my hand and told me trivial stories as we walked together through the old and insignificant school grounds.

They weren’t particularly keen on studying.

They weren’t people who were particularly focused on fighting.

I wasn’t particularly interested in the accidents that occurred in Academy City.

just…

They were just really ordinary students.

“… ”

These are probably the seniors that ‘Clara’ in the game said she respected.

『Yes―♪ They were really good people☆ The memories of those days are still like jewels to me―☆』

“… ”

They were people who would have gone somewhere a year later anyway.

Because they weren’t the people who helped me get stronger.

I didn’t participate much in the conversation with them.

Following a long-standing desire from my past life, I decided to become strong to prove myself. For me, the only true daily life was interacting with future strong players and intense training.

‘… I was sent to this world as I wanted, so I will live as I want.’

Regardless of my thoughts, they were chattering away.

“Listen! Yesterday, there was a really touching story among the lunch broadcast stories told by the press department of !”

“Ah… It’s a waste. I couldn’t listen yesterday because I was taking a nap.”

“Ugh… I apply for that all the time, but why am I not selected?”

“Nina always writes a lot about eating.”

“There is no one who is not happy eating pancakes all the time… ”

“Ugh, pig.”

“Uuuh… It’s too much.”

“Really~! I told you I would tell you a touching story—!”

“If Frida talks, the story goes astray and is not interesting.”

“… Wooheehee. Right, right… Whoaam.”

“Haaam… ”

Did they say yawning is contagious?

As the conversation continues, the seniors keep yawning.

“Haam… After all, waking up early is tiring… ”

“Shh—!”

“… ”

Frida unconsciously looks at me and warns her friends.

Perhaps waking up early was not their original lifestyle pattern.

As I watched it, I realized that my seniors had woken up early to greet me.

‘… For some reason, it was strange that the laid-back seniors were always up when I came home overnight.’

It’s not like I have any special feelings of affection for them anymore. Somehow, I felt sorry for the girls who waited for my return every morning.

“… ”

For the first time since I entered the school, I joined the conversation and spoke. Fortunately or not… I was able to speak exactly what was in my heart, not in a blunt tone, but in Clara’s language filtered through a pretty filter.

“I… Seniors☆”

“… Huh?”

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

“Ahaha―☆ That… Just don’t wait for me, if you feel sleepy in the morning, you can sleep well―☆ They say sleep is precious to a beautiful woman―♪”

“… ”

“… ”

“… ”

Chilly silence.

I regretted it in an instant.

‘… ‘Did I mention it for no reason?’

And the three seniors opened their eyes wide, looked at each other, and spoke.

“Clara finally spoke―!”

“Ahaha! yes! Sleep is precious—!”

“Uhihi… ! Then, let’s all take a nap together!”

“Agree~”

The faces of the seniors who grabbed my hand and tried to drag me away were smiling.

I was embarrassed and told them.

“I… Seniors―☆ I think you misunderstood what I said☆”

“Huh?”

“I said there was no need to wait… ”

“What do you mean!”

Frida spoke while holding both of my hands.

“We are seniors! It’s natural to wait for your junior!”

“… ”

It is natural to wait…

Somehow I couldn’t forget those words.

Warm hands held together, Frida’s eyes shining in the morning sun. And I remember taking a nap together in an old classroom with the cool spring breeze blowing.

vestige…

It was a memory of the day when I began to understand Clara’s words just a little bit.

＊

“… ”

As I listened to the sound of the ether floating train outside the window, I suddenly remembered an old memory. It was a memory of the day I passed through this dark plain and returned to under the morning sun.

The view of the northern part of Academy City outside the train’s window was in the middle of the night, so it was impossible to see even an inch ahead. In the darkness, only the gigantic branches of the World Tree, glowing faintly in the distance, could distinguish between the earth and the sky.

The darkness descended.

The train was passing through the silence of the night, heading towards the vast northern wilderness.

Rattling- rattling-

“… ”

“… ”

“… ”

The passenger compartment of the train was quiet because it was the only train reserved to transport us and the bell of the . Under dimly lit indirect lighting. The only sound in the room was the small breathing of the girls in red tracksuits.

New liquid –

Grumbling-

We hurried out of school in the middle of the night, dressed in training clothes and carrying only our own equipment. And the juniors who were listening to Bell’s story eventually fell asleep due to fatigue and the warmth of the room.

Albit and Lotta were sleeping leaning against a chair with a sword and a wand hanging from their waists, respectively. And Kara took up an entire group seat, partly because of her size and because of the size of the flag she brought.

The only ones awake in the room were me and Belle.

Of course, Belle was still wearing her red training clothes.

“… ”

As I looked sideways at my juniors who were fast asleep, I made eye contact with Belle, who was sitting in the seat across from me.

“… !”

Bell was constantly fidgeting due to the unexpected situation, and when our eyes met, he shyly avoided his eyes. Her black side tail flickers and moves as she suddenly turns her head.

‘It’s true to the concept, but is it because of the setting that it doesn’t cross the line…? Aside from wanting to look strong, he’s also secretly timid.’

No matter how emergency it was, I think it was embarrassing to open my hands to , which had nothing to do with this incident.

Belle, with her eyes fixed on the window, cleared her throat and spoke in a low voice.

“… Because there is still a long way to arrive. Why don’t you sleep?”

“It’s been a while since I heard a thrilling story♪ My heart is so excited that I can’t sleep―☆”

“Ugh… ! I’m sorry… ! I won’t ask you to do anything dangerous, and I will definitely repay you… that… To the boss… Please keep it secret… Do it… ”

“A girl’s secret is expensive―♪”

“Ugh… okay! What do you want!”

“Hmm? I wonder if I can handle it~☆”

“Can you please stop looking down on me? There are so many things the cute secretary of the can do in Academy City!”

Bell put on a confident expression, but he couldn’t erase the anxiety about his situation from his shaking red eyes.

I saw it and accepted it with a meaningful smile.

“Hehehe♪ And so~ I have to ask for something very difficult and precious―☆”

“… ”

“A very difficult and demanding request from a lady♪ Huhuhu―☆ I wonder if I can handle it―♡”

“… ”

Belle spoke in a slightly worried voice.

“… Even cute clerks can’t commit crimes?”

“Huhuhu―♪”

“Hey, over there. Isn’t it really?”

“Huhuhuhu―☆”

“What, what?! What are you going to order—?!”

“Bring me a box of delicious cookies later-♪ And we can all have a meal together-☆ Of course, with Bell shooting☆”

“No, don’t say it in a meaningful way when it’s nothing special—!!”

A shout so loud that Bell’s side tail head stood up. Because of this, the juniors who were sleeping in the seats next to me reacted by tossing and turning.

“Umm… ”

“Seu… ”

Belle was shocked when she saw that, then looked back and spoke in a low voice.

“… Don’t make fun of something that doesn’t matter.”

“Hey―☆ We are desperate☆”

“This is why beggars… Anyway, you can really do that much, so why not tell the boss? huh? please… ”

The voice gradually decreased and eventually became like a whisper. But that small voice contained a sincerity that could not be hidden.

“… ?”

Even though I was teasing Belle, I was somehow embarrassed by the overwhelming response.

Compared to the shamelessness that Concept Chung showed in the game, his attitude was somewhat too servile. After all, since you are an executive of the , it wouldn’t be too strange to ask for help from a school that is part of the union.

‘It’s a shame that it’s the union’s best beggar school that asked for that help.’

Looking at it from a moral perspective, it could be said that they did their best just to be able to bring us as reinforcements, as they had already met us in a situation where there was no time to go through .

‘Or is there a reason why I shouldn’t be caught by Hilde?’

Without having to go far, Bell made the announcement himself by talking about punishment. She probably had more accidents than appeared in the game.

‘… Actually, it happened while I was at for a trivial reason.’

The person in charge who is away.

Considering the extent of Bell’s current mistakes, wouldn’t it be comparable to Masok, which he hiked because of its beautiful scenery?

‘It must be a big problem.”

I nodded, remembering the face of Hilde, who was strict about principles. She was a great person who not only killed the yam, but also killed Guan Yu, who saved Cao Cao’s life.

While I was spending time thinking about that.

I felt something ominous and looked out the window.

“… !”

“… ?”

Belle must have been suspicious of my look in her eyes, so she tilted her head and looked out the window in the same way. And I cried out in sorrow as I watched the state of the northern wilderness slowly becoming apparent.

“… Oh my god.”

“… Like this☆”

The train’s emergency announcement was heard at that time.

[…] Notice to all passengers. Due to an emergency that occurred along the route of this train, an emergency stop was made.]

[There will be an impact to cause an emergency stop, so please prepare in the audience.]

Wow, profit――

A train slowly coming to a stop with a creepy metallic sound.

The juniors woke up in surprise at the sound of the emergency announcement and walked toward the window we were looking at.

“Senior? What’s going on?”

“… Look over there.”

Lotta poked Arbit’s side and then pointed to the window with a thin finger. And in Albert’s brown eyes as he looked out the window, an afterimage of a sparkling firework from the horizon formed.

“… !”

“… That is.”

“That thing that fills the horizon… entire… Do you mean flame?”

A feast of countless fireworks rising above the darkness of the night.

Although they looked smaller than dots among the flickering flames, numerous figures were moving around. Demons walking through a hell made entirely of flames. In the baptism of flames heating up the horizon, I even had an auditory hallucination as if the noise of fighting and destruction was somehow echoing all the way up here.

In the middle of hell.

Magenta-colored flames were clearly fluttering.

Underneath the shadows cast by the vivid magenta flames, numerous wreckage and corpses of monsters flickered.

Belle sighed as she realized what the flames meant.

“[Yanghong’s Trail]… ”

“… ”

A pyromaniac who uses a strange sword.

She was somewhere out there in the vast northern wilderness.

I remembered the face of one of the five fighting friends I hadn’t seen in a long time.

-Hahaha!! Are you the ignorant fist-fighter from the northeastern part of Academy City?

-Oh, ♪ I want you to correct me ☆ I am the Lady of the East ☆ Although I love fighting ☆

The girl from the past seemed perfectly satisfied with what I said and smiled, showing her crooked teeth.